Rainbow Lifelong Learning Institute, Boston

Schedule

This course will take place on Zoom on Tuesday, beginning at 10:30, 4/29/25 - 5/27/26.

Course Description.  We will trace the evolution of American racial innocence from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 1884, through 

The Fire Next Time in 1963, to the National Book Award winning James in 2024. Through our analysis of racial innocence, we will explore the nature of our racial, cultural, political and social identities at a time of seismic demographic change.

Session 1. Back to School— Protecting Racial Innocence/Revisiting The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn/Resisting an Imperfect Messenger

Session 2.  James Baldwin and the “Crime” of American Racial Innocence—The Indictment and the Punishment

Session 3.  Contemporary Messengers/Michelle Alexander, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Eddie Glaude, Imani Perry, et al—Stuck in a Recurring Nightmare

Session 4.  James by Percival Everett—From Moral Suasion to Black Agency

Session 5.  James by Percival Everett—Finding the Cost of Freedom

Students will receive guiding questions several days before each class to prepare for discussion.  There will be 1-2 hours of reading each week.

Required materials 

James by Percival Everett.  I will provide all other materials via email.

What to prep for first class

Read “Teaching Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” by Shelley Fisher Fishkin and  “The Essential Discomfort of Reading Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Derek Bunting.  I will send these articles by email the week before we start.

Instructor Bio. 

Joshua Frank provides Adult Education in Racial Equity and American History. He worked as an educator for twenty-eight years in public schools--sixteen as

a teacher, and twelve as an administrator. He completed his undergraduate education at UMass/Amherst, and received Master’s degrees from UMass/Boston and the Harvard Graduate School of Education. His areas of special interest include fostering positive, effective teacher-student relationships, and promoting cultural competence and equity in schools. Josh’s 2007 Education Digest article, “When White Educators Discipline Students of Color,” was republished as a “classic” in the August 2015 Connections:  The Journal of the National School Reform Faculty.